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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29639232">Before and After</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nativestar/pseuds/Nativestar'>Nativestar</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>MacGyver (TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, canon character death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:59:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,656</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29639232</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nativestar/pseuds/Nativestar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Two connected but unrelated fics.  Chapter One: Mac and Jack spend the night in a motel during a mission and Mac has a bad headache.  Chapter two: Set after 5x08.  On the flight back home, Mac wakes up with a headache.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Mac went to bed, exhausted, he was hoping to sleep off the mild headache he had forming.</p>
<p>But four hours later he woke up with a stabbing pain in his head, sitting right behind his left eye. He sighed quietly, trying not to wake Jack and rolled over. Keeping his eyes shut, he tried to breathe through the pain, box it up and go back to sleep. He was too tired to deal with getting out of bed and taking painkillers and then waiting for them to kick in.</p>
<p>It only took a few minutes for Mac to realise he wasn’t going to have a choice in the matter. Unless he did something, he was just going to be lying here in pain, completely awake. He quietly slipped out of bed, moving carefully but not stealthily. Jack would sleep through normal noises but he’d be awake in an instant if he thought someone was sneaking around the room.</p>
<p>He moved into the bathroom, grateful for the street light outside the window that bathed the room in a dim glow and removed the need for him to turn on the harsh overhead light. Rummaging through his wash bag, his fingers lingered for a second on his migraine medication before passing them over, it really was just a bad headache, his migraine medication would knock him out for half a day and he didn’t want that. Instead, he popped a couple of tablets of advil and cupped his hand to drink from the faucet to wash them down.</p>
<p>This was the bit Mac hated now, all he could do was wait for it to take effect. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the sink, running his fingers over his head and massaging his scalp. It helped. Kinda. But he knew he couldn’t stay in the bathroom all night, so holding back a groan he straightened and headed back to bed.</p>
<p>Lying down didn’t feel any better than it did when he first woke up and after less than a minute, he pushed himself up to a semi reclining position, rolling his head gently against the wall behind it. The movement and pressure was distracting him from the pain when a soft voice spoke out.</p>
<p>“You okay?”</p>
<p>“Yeah.” Mac answered quietly, hoping Jack would just go back to sleep.</p>
<p>“Heard the blister pack.”</p>
<p>“Headache.”</p>
<p>“Migraine?”</p>
<p>“Not that bad.”</p>
<p>“Bad enough for painkillers in the middle of the night.”</p>
<p>“Mmm.”</p>
<p>Mac really hoped Jack would stop talking and just let him wallow in his misery. Surely, it can’t be much longer before the tablets would start working, but a quick check on his phone showed it had only been ten minutes. Ten <em>long</em> minutes.</p>
<p>He sighed and heard a quiet click and the sound of Jack getting out of bed. Great. Now they both would be suffering from lack of sleep in the morning. He must have zoned out for a bit because the next thing he knew the bed dipped by his hip and something cold nudged his arm gently. Mac cautiously cracked open his eyes to find that Jack had draped a t-shirt over the lamp in the corner to mute the light and was holding a glass of water.</p>
<p>“Think you can drink this?”</p>
<p>Silently, Mac accepted the glass. Admittedly, there was a chance he hadn’t drunk enough water today, and he didn’t feel nauseous so it couldn’t hurt. Once he’d finished, he closed his eyes again and felt Jack take the empty glass out his hand.</p>
<p>“Wanna try laying down?”</p>
<p><em>Not really.</em> Mac wanted to answer but he also didn’t want to fall asleep sitting up so he scooted down the bed.</p>
<p>“Cold incoming.” Jack warned as Mac felt a cool compress laid over his eyes. And he might have groaned a little in relief. He felt Jack’s hand brush back his hair, once, twice and then paused for a second before going a third time.</p>
<p>“’S jus’ a headache.” Mac muttered. He wasn’t <em>sick</em> sick. He knew he didn’t have a fever.</p>
<p>“Just checking, bud.”</p>
<p>Jack took his hand away, and Mac immediately mourned its loss, it <em>had</em> felt good. Just the right amount of pressure and the soothing motion was better than focusing on the throb of pain. He reached out blindly, finding Jack’s hand and returned it to his head.</p>
<p>“Feels good, huh?” Jack asked in quiet amusement and started carding his hand through Mac’s hair again, running his fingers over his scalp, a gentle massage that was working better than the drugs.</p>
<p>“Thanks.” Mac whispered, as he finally felt the pain start to fade.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mac woke up mid-flight to the feeling of a vice being tightened around his head.  Barely suppressing a groan, he rubbed at his temples.</p>
<p>This was not fair.  He just wanted to sleep.</p>
<p>Cracking his eyes open, he was glad to see that Riley and Desi were having more success than him.  Desi was stretched out asleep on the sofa that Mac had insisted she take, her breathing regular and deep.  Riley had slouched down in the chair next to Mac with her head propped against the wall.  Her laptop was still on the table in front of her, and Mac wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d fallen asleep whilst working on something.  He knew he wasn’t the only one who’d been burning the candle at both ends.</p>
<p>Squinting, even in the dim lights of the plane, he carefully made his way to the bathroom, quietly shutting the door behind him and taking some painkillers from the stash in the cupboard.  He waited a moment, resting his forehead on the cool wall as a wave a nausea passed over him.  It was a false alarm, thankfully, and he straightened cautiously and glanced in the mirror.  He half expected to see a rivulet of red under his nose, the spike of pain in his head was that bad, but no, he looked tired and pale, but no more nosebleeds.  His body ached for rest though so slipping back into the cabin he headed back to his seat.</p>
<p>“You okay?”  Riley’s quiet voice called out from across the aisle once he’d sat down.</p>
<p>“Mmm.”  He replied just as quietly.  “Headache.”</p>
<p>“You take something for it?”</p>
<p>“Just now.”</p>
<p>Mac tried to give her a reassuring smile, and closed his eyes.  He heard her get up, and groaned inwardly.  It wasn’t fair that Riley had to miss out on much needed sleep too, and he really didn’t want anyone up and worrying over him.  He just needed to wait for the painkiller to kick in.</p>
<p>He felt something cool touch his arm and peeling his eyes open again, he saw Riley holding out a glass of water for him.  He wasn’t sure he could keep it down but he accepted it anyway, holding the cold glass to his forehead and sighing as Riley perched on the armrest of the seat opposite with her own drink.  He risked a sip of water and it settled surprisingly easily, but he only drank half of it before setting it down in the cup holder, not wanting to push it.</p>
<p>His eyes moved down the plane, where Desi was spread out over the sofa, still sound asleep.  He frowned, they were being quiet but usually the light activity would have been more than enough to wake her.  What if something was wrong?</p>
<p>“She’s fine.”  Riley said, following his gaze.  “She was smart enough to take painkillers before she went to sleep.”</p>
<p>Mac pulled a face at her gentle teasing.</p>
<p>“We nearly woke you to do the same, but neither of us had the heart, kinda hoped you’d sleep through to landing.”  Riley added apologetically.</p>
<p>“I’m not that lucky.”  He said closing his eyes again and tipping his head back to rest against the seat.  Keeping his eyes shut was better than the dim light of the cabin but it meant there wasn’t anything to distract him from the pulsing throb of pain in his head.  He tried to focus on breathing through it, deep and steady, counting his breaths in and out, and he must have zoned out for a moment or two because he didn’t hear Riley move until she was right next to his chair again.<br/>“Keep your eyes closed.”  She warned, before she laid a soothing cold compress over his eyes.  It blocked out all the light and he couldn’t stop the sigh that escaped him.</p>
<p>And suddenly, he was reminded of the only other person who’d done this for him.  Jack.  It slammed into him, a wall of fresh grief.  He couldn’t do this, not now, not when the pain had stripped him of his usual defences and left him feeling stretched tight like the slightest kindness would break him.  He missed Jack so much.</p>
<p>Mac bit his lip, hoping Riley wouldn’t notice the quiver, or would think it was just from the headache.  A drop of water trailed out from the side of the compress and down into his hairline, and Mac honestly wasn’t sure if it really was just water or something else.</p>
<p>Riley put her hand on top of his and gave it a little squeeze.</p>
<p>“You okay?”</p>
<p>“Yeah.”</p>
<p>He really wasn’t.</p>
<p>“He used to do the same thing for me too.”</p>
<p>Mac flipped his hand around and squeezed Riley’s back.  Taking a perch on his armrest, she started running her fingers through Mac’s hair, keeping it soft and soothing, with just the right amount of pressure, exactly like Jack used to.  It felt good, having something physical to focus on, beyond the pain.</p>
<p>“I miss him.”  Mac whispered.  The confession slipping out easier with his eyes closed and just him and Riley.</p>
<p>There was a long pause.</p>
<p>“Me too.”  Riley answered, her voice thick with emotion as she kept gently running her fingers over his scalp, easing a pain that the drugs would never touch.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Jack is not dead, Mac just doesn't know that here.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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